What’s a few days between friends? Today, Windows 7 was released to manufacturing, so pop those corks. Brandon LeBlanc, from the Windows 7 blog, detailed the RTM, perhaps in an attempt to appease folks like Paul Thorrott, explaining that Microsoft’s RTM process isn’t just a single build, but a branch.
I’ve been running Windows 7 Beta since early January, and then switched over to the release candidate on both my desktop and laptop, when it was released. It’s been a fine operating system, with countless user interaction improvements over Vista. The mantra seems to have been: reduce the number of discrete actions required for each task. And with a mouse click less here and a keypress no longer needed there, Windows Vista has transformed into a thing of beauty and efficiency.
I’m looking forward to an MSDN-AA license, and probably a cheap copy at the Microsoft store when I’m there in the fall!
Just make friends with someone on the Windows team. I’m sure they’ll be giving away plenty of copies during their (probably several) launch parties.
Haha, indeed – I have a couple friends who will be working on the Windows team this fall, but I don’t mind shelling out some money for a good operating system either.